A New Dawn
by DeathStrikesAgain
Summary: Eight years ago she left Konoha, and now she's back, bearing more secrets than before. But can she heal the damage that was done to the people she loved? Can she stop the upcoming onslaught and save her beloved village before it is too late? DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue

_DISCALIMER: I do not own Naruto. However, the girl character, as she is an OC, is mine. =] My first FanFic. I hope you'd enjoy! Read and review please!_

Today was the day, Tsunade mused. The fifth Hokage of the Great Village of the Leaf looked back at the letter she had in her hand. Orders from the late Sandaime, orders that she had just received just the day before. She shook her head, even after his death, the old man still had ways to do things that sometimes just plain creeped her out. _Expect a visitor._ The letter had said. Three simple words, that was it. Underneath, the signature of the man long dead that sometimes seemed to haunt her and below that, the date she was to expect this 'visitor'. Who knew what card the old man was playing, but she trusted the man as she would herself. '_Plus_,' the Hokage thought as she stood up and surveyed the busy streets outside, _'Konoha is in a bad shape… We would need all the help we can get.'_ Her expression turned vivid and she snarled. '_Damn that Snake_.' She prayed inside that the old man had some sort of plan, because she was soon running out of them. Who knew being Hokage would be this hard? She groaned, before turning back to her paper work.

XxX break XxX

She stood at the tallest tree she could find in the whole forest, looking up she could smell it_. Home_- Just beyond the horizon the outline of a village could be seen. In her mind's eye she could see the Hokage tower, the hustle and bustle of the villagers and the constant buzzing of activity as the gennin of the Village do their missions. Her heart sped up as her feet picked up the pace. It was too long she had been gone. Too long she had been from civilization. It was finally time, to return home.

XxX break XxX

The morning dew had gathered at the tip of the leaves, and as the sun shone across the vast green field, it spread millions of tiny little rainbows that would only be seen by the keenest of eyes. The sun lay low on the horizon, bringing the news of a new day. Colours of purple, yellow, orange, red, diffused throughout the sky, a gorgeous quiet morning. To anyone, it seemed as though nothing could disturb the eerie tranquility of the morning, as though caught in a picturesque moment, the world was finally perfect, just for a second. The sky smiled down upon its good fortune, peace at last…

How badly it was proven wrong.

"NARUTO!" an ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the field. "GET BACK HERE!"

Just beyond the edges of the field a black thing sped through the grass, breaking the morning calm. Right behind chased an orange boy, with bright blond hair and sky-blue eyes who was snarling and trying his best to catch up to the cat. Behind him, a team of three, a handsome, seemingly arrogant young man who bared the crest of the late Uchiha on his back, a young woman with bubblegum pink hair who the scream had belonged to and an older man, an adult, with ash-grey hair and a masked face, and even then, a grin could be seen behind the mask. The girl in pink ran up to the blond boy and smacked the back of his head, hard, his momentum causing him to tumble over a few times before skidding to a stop several feet from the girl. He stood up, cradling the back of his head, whining.

"But Sakura-chan, he was so close, I nearly got him, why did you hit me for?" The girl glowered at him.

"Because we're meant to be saving the cat, not scaring the poor thing to death. Look." She said, pointing out at the cat that was sitting on top of a tree, shivering with fear and staring down at them.

"The poor thing is scared." Sakura then walked up to the tree and held her hand out. "Here kitty kitty. I won't hurt you. Not like that big blond idiot over there."

Naruto gasped in fear. "Be careful Sakura-chan! That thing isn't just a cat, it's a demon in disguise. Look what it did to me!"

True to his word, the boy was marked with enough scratches and bruises to say that he was thrown into a room full of demons.

"Hmph." The Uchiha boy smirked at him.

"What do you want huh teme? I don't see you holding that damn cat." Bit back the blond.

"Naruto! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun that way." The girl said, snapping at Konoha's number-one most surprising ninja. She then turned back to the kitten and slowly, the cat wormed his way into her arms. "That's a good kitty. Aren't you a good kitten?" She said, gushing at the pet cat she held in her arms. Naruto stared at her, jaw-dropping so low it seemed like he had to dig it out of the ground later. She smiled and turned to their teacher. "Well Kakashi-sensei, mission completed."

The masked man smiled, and chuckled quietly to himself. Another day, like any other day. He looked up at the now-rising sun and breathed in the fresh air, they deserved a rest, after all the commotion they deserved to take a break and do some useless D-rank missions. He gathered the three ninja's like a flock and headed to the Hokage tower. A grumbling Naruto, a gushing Sakura and an as always, seemingly emotionless Sasuke following in his lead.

XxX break XxX

As she neared the village she could barely control her feet. It took all of her not to run into the village gates and scream that she was home. But she had to stay calm, else they would think she was an enemy. She could not blame the weariness of Konoha, even from where she was she could see the damage that Orochimaru had dealt onto the place she loved. That snake… He would pay.

"You. Stop right there. Who are you and state your purpose of entering Konoha." Shouted a voice as two masked ANBU man dropped from the top of the gate and in front of her.

She looked up at them, stomping down her previous thoughts of strangling that snake-like man, and reached out to take off her helm. She breathed in the fresh air, loving the feeling of the heavy armour off her head and bent her neck to and fro to get used to the feeling, her long red hair tumbling down and reaching just halfway across her thigh. It wasn't as though the armour weighed her down, it was more for the feeling of being inconspicuous, plus, it saved her numerous times from getting her head sliced into half. _'I'm going to have to get this cut'_. She mused to herself, thinking of her superbly long red hair. Funny that the reason she didn't was because of him. She remembered on that night, what he said to her.

"_Just what do you think you're doing." He asked as he entered her room through her window. She turned her eyes to him and then let them slide back to her long red hair, she had grasped them in her left hand, and in her right a kunai._

"_I want to get rid of this burden." She said to him nonchalantly. _

"_Don't." he gripped her wrist to prevent her from cutting off her pride. "You love your hair. It's the one thing that reminds you of your mother remember?" he said softly. His right hand running across her soft hair, leaving her heart to thud even faster inside her chest. "I know it hurts. To have her gone… But don't do it? You'd regret it. Everytime you look into the mirror you would wish that you had the one last thing to remember her by." He pulled her close into his chest as she wept silently. His musky scent filled her nose and even in her depression, she felt drawn to him, like a bee to honey._

_He buried his face into her hair. Breathing in the scent that he loved so dearly. "Plus… I love your hair."_

"Answer us!" a sharp voice brought her back to the real world, quenching to longing that she felt in her heart and she turned to them. Their eyes widened slightly as she grinned at them cheekily.

"Sorry about that, I was just day dreaming." She said guiltily, then she straightened up. "My name is Akai Naze and I'm a Konoha shinobi returning from a 8 year long mission."

XxX break XxX

"Akai Naze huh?" So this was the girl that Sandaime had been wanting her to expect. 8 years is indeed a long time. Maybe it was a good time as any to have one of Konoha's shinobi return to them. But still, she wondered what was so special about the girl.

"Send her in."

_First chapter done, I'm not too sure if it is too short for a chapter._

_And yes, I did set this so that Sasuke is NOT with Orochimaru yet although the war is already over. Why? Because I felt like it. And it flows with my story better. I am also unsure whether to turn Sasuke evil yet. I might not, I might. But later on. This is BEFORE shippuden so Naruto has yet to go off and train with Jiraiya. Yes, I have altered the timeline a little, but just read the story. Hopefully, it'll flow._

_Keep in mind their age._

_Kakashi – 23  
Akai – 21  
Sasuke – 15  
Sakura – 15  
Naruto – 15_

_I actually have no idea how old they are in the whole series so I'm making it up. Unless someone could help me and tell me how old they are. This would do for now. =]_

_Something to look forward to next Chapter…_

**Akai explained, closing her eyes. "It… is a very valuable asset to anyone, but very, very difficult to gain."**

_And_

**She nodded at her. "I see… But all this… All this for what? What was the point?"**

_**Find out who exactly Akai is and what she can do! (ish)**_

_REVIEW!_


	2. Chapter 1

_DISCLAIMER: Once again, I do not own Naruto, even though I dearly wish I did._

Akai walked through the corridors, flanked by two other ANBU members. She reached the doors leading into the Hokage office, she remembered this place so well. She used to play here, when she was younger, together with him. She remembered it all too well.

"_I WIN!" a young girl with short red hair shouted as she ran pass the double doors and into the Hokage's office. The boy that was chasing after he tried to skid into a stop but to no avail, slammed into her and they both tumbled into the office, giggling like nothing else but two children having fun._

"_No fair! You had a head start." Cried out the young boy as he stood up and dusted himself off, before extending a hand out to the girl and pulled her up._

"_Nah. You're just a sore loser." She said poking her tongue out at him. "Neh old man Hokage. Ain't I right?" she said turning towards the chuckling Hokage sitting at his desk. Watching the whole thing with amusement._

"_I'm afraid Akai-chan is right my boy. She did win" he answered with his eyes sparkling. _

_The young boy grumbled, "You only say that cuz you love and spoil her." He said under his breath._

_Akai stuck her tongue out at him again. "Okay, okay you sore loser, let's have a rerun. Last one home is a rotten egg!" she shouted at him before blowing a kiss at the old man and ran off._

"_WAIT! You're cheating again!" he shouted at her back before turning around and bowing at the Hokage. "Sorry for the commotion Hokage-sama." Before he took off and ran after the hyper-active young girl._

"Akai-san?" asked one of the ANBU, a softer voice, it must be a girl, but it was enough to break her reverie. Akai shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head. These daydreams have to stop. It might get her killed one day. But man does she miss that old man… Sometimes, it pained her to know that she wasn't here to save him when she could.

She shook her head, and smiled at the ANBU, "Sorry. Daydreaming again. Can't help it." She said sheepishly. She turned and winked suggestively at the two guards standing by the Hokage's doors. The two guards at least had the decency to blush. Akai was of course, by far the most gorgeous thing they had laid their eyes on. "Well… It's now or never." And she took a deep breathe and walked through the double doors.

Akai bowed low to the blonde woman sitting behind the desk. "Hokage-sama." She said formally.

Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk to get to the woman. She nodded to the two ANBU and they shuffled outside, where they would wait, just incase that this woman posed a threat. They closed the door, leaving the two women the freedom to talk in private. Akai straightened her back and looked at Tsunade straight in the eye. "Akai Naze, to your disposal, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade surveyed the woman standing in front of her desk. She was about 5"7 in height and was slim. Not skinny, anorexic-model type of skinny. But slim, curvy and probably had the body that the whole of Konoha's woman population would be envious of. She had curly long red hair that reached to her mid thigh. She was toned and had well-developed muscles, not scary large wrestler sort of muscles, but it was enough to tell that this girl had trained hard for her body. She wore a tube top that showed off her toned, flat stomach. Skinny jeans and knee-length boots graces her leg and hips. Tsunade had a report from the other ANBU that the woman was wearing some type of intricate armour before entering Konoha, but had removed it before entering the Hokage tower. But there was something else about her that was different, and it only took seconds for Tsunade to figure out what it was, her eyes. Her eyes were different from most, purple with a tint of red and orange by the sides. She could hardly place what colour it was as it seemed to change every second. It was hypnotic, like a storm churning underneath the surface. She couldn't help but feel as though she was drawn in by it. The woman closed her eyes and Tsunade broke out of the small trance.

"Sorry about that." Akai said before opening her eyes again, it turned to clear purple, traces of the storm was gone. "It's a defense mechanism, it appears every time I become unsure of what kind of situation I am in."

Tsunade nodded, then shaking her head to clear it. "What is it?"

"I call it Storm Glaze, for obvious reasons. It's like a kekkai genkai but… I had to work, hard, for it. And it does not past through bloodline, but you are required to finish a… quest before you can achieve this. It has a variety of different names, Purple Storm, Sleeping Whisper, etc." Akai closed her eyes. "It… is a very valuable asset to anyone, but very, very difficult to gain."

Tsunade nodded, understanding that many kekkai genkai required certain trials to be done before you are able to access them. "What does it do?"

"Well… A variety of different things. For one, as you have experience, I can make people fall asleep or dazed, or believe their in a different world. It is shares some similar properties to the Mangekyou Sharingan, I can manipulate people into doing things that I want them to do." Akai smiled helplessly then shook her head. "Although there is a drawback. The Storm Glaze if powerful, although it is a very strong asset to have, it drains a lot out of the user, depending on what we are using it for."

"We?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow. This Kekkai Genkai… a mixture of both Sharingan and Bakyugan can be both dangerous and useful. She had never heard of something like that before. This could mean something new for Konoha. Good or bad she isn't too sure. "There are more of you?"

Akai shook her head. "No…" she muttered softly. "Not anymore." She stared darkly at the floor. "May I sit?" Akai asked, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk. "This would take a while."

Tsunade nodded and moved to sit in her own chair. As Akai settled down into the soft cushion as Tsunade gestured to her to continue her story. Akai held a hand up and muttered a few soft words underneath her breathe.

"Now we can talk unhindered by other ears." She said to her. Then she took a deep breath.

"Where to begin… I am what you would call a Morpher. We are… few, very few in numbers. In fact, there are only on Morpher allowed to live each lifetime. When I die, a new one would resurface, when he or she dies, another would be reborn. It goes on and on this way." Akai closed her eyes, memories resurfacing. "To do this… You have to be the chosen one and go through a few painful trials."

_A thirteen-year-old Akai heaved herself onto the rock above, her muscles straining and screaming in protest. Below her, was a 10,000 feet drop. Oxygen was so thin her body felt like it was about to give out and die. She shook her head. No. She can do this. She hauled herself to the last landing she was to reach and laid on the cliff side, glad to have finally reached her destination. Her body felt like jelly and her hands, arms, body, shook. She was covered in scratches, bruises, burns from the friction, her hands were bloody and so were her feet due to her climbing._

"_So you have arrived." A voice scoffed. Akai looked up, it took a while for her oxygen deprived brain to realize that the one doing the talking was… a turtle. "Every year they send someone younger, and look at you, still a child, barely even a teenager." The turtle shook its head as Akai looked at it in wonder. "Still… climbing that height for someone so young is quite a feat… Maybe you won't disappoint." Akai was too exhausted, too tired, to make sense of what was going on. Darkness clouded her vision but the turtle stood up and kicked her. Hard. Hard enough to ensure that she was jerked out of it. _

"_Don't go fainting on me now, you still have a long way to go. Prove it. Reach that top," the turtle said, using a stick to point at the tip of the mountain. "by sundown, and then maybe, maybe you could be what you were chosen to be." Before vanishing into a cloud of smoke._

_Akai groaned. Why on earth is the God's torturing her this way? She lay back down, staring at the sky. Her young mind processing all that was said. Yet in her heart, even though she had no idea why she climbed the 10,000 feet mountain, told her to get up, told her to continue all the way to the top. In her heart, she knew that she had to do this, though her mind was going through turmoil and she constantly second-guessed herself. She had to do it, plus, she never backed down on a challenge. She sighed as she forced her body to its feet, stumbling as her body wanted to give in, but she refused and forced her feet to move, one by one, up the mountain._

Tsunade looked up, amused but impressed. So… this was one of the prices the girl had to pay, even at the age of 13, she had proven determined enough to beat the trials that this 'turtle' set for her.

"And trust me, that was probably the most gentle of quests and trials Kendo-sensei had put me through. But in the end, at the end of six years… He was proud of me, after six years of hard training, I was to go and learn about the world for myself. To complete the final trial by myself, a trial that took me two years to complete."

_The young woman jumped from tree to tree, this was it, the finale, the end of her long 8 years of training. She reached the clearing and dropped to the ground. In front of her, was a large structure made purely of stone. Weaved deep inside the forest of death at the corner of the world, a place where nightmares came true and no one has dared to enter for a lifetime. Not a soul could be found, not a thing could be heard throughout the whole forest. The eerie quietness often drove many people insane, the never ending route led many to starve to death, until a few hundred years ago, this part of the world was cut of, considered forbidden. But she knew where to go. Don't ask her how, but Akai knew, she followed her heart, as always, and she knew._

_She walked slowly to the stone structure, made in a form of a being, it had the head of a tiger, body of a human, wings of an eagle, legs of a horse and tail of a fish. She placed her palm onto the statue and transferred energy into the statue. Not chakra, mind you, but energy coming purely from her heart. She gasped, the energy that came from the earth flooded into her._

_Then she opened her mouth, and screamed._

"It was like you were being ripped into pieces, and then thrown into a fire to be burned to death, all while being rolled over and stomped on by elephants, bones, crushing, blood itself felt like fire. It was the single most painful thing anyone could have gone through. But it was a test. A test of will, if you fail, you would fall to your death. If you won… You'd become… a morpher."

Tsunade looked at the young woman. Her mind slowly processing what this girl had to go through. She nodded at her.

"I see… But all this… All this for what? What was the point?"

"I'm called a Morpher because I have the power to morph into anything I want to. Not just a henge jutsu mind you. But actually, morph into an animal, or person, or anything. I take on their form, their mind set, and all I have to do is touch them and I can transform. No one, not even his or her most loved ones, would be able to tell the difference between me and the original being. I am the most deadliest of spies as I can get into anywhere and do anything." Akai said, "But there is… a price. If my heart were to sway, if ever, I am to use my powers for evil… I would die. And I would die the most painful death a person can endure, to pay for the betrayal I have dealt to the Gods. For it is, after all, a gift, chosen and given by the Gods above."

Tsunade nodded, if all the girl said was true, then Konoha indeed has gained its most powerful asset. They continued to talk about the more trivial things such as her living space, her daily expectations, etc. Finally, the Hokage stood up and Akai stood up with her. Tsunade nodded at the other woman.

"I trust you and I agree to accept you into Konoha, as one of our shinobis." Tsunade reached into the drawer and pulled out a leaf headband. "This is for you," she said, handing her the hitai-ate.

"Welcome home."

Akai nodded and took the headband from her and tied it across her arm. She looked up at the Hokage a grinned, before bowing to her. "Thank you Hokage-sama… It feels good to be home."

Akai stood up and walked towards the double doors, but before she could leave a thought came to the Hokage's mind.

"You never did tell me what happened to the other Morphers… About you being the last one."

Akai stopped short, hand placed on the doorknob. "That's a story for another day Hokage-sama. It's best… to let that one rest for a while." She said, and while her voice remained calm and upbeat, the Hokage could see her back tense and her hands shook. Tsunade nodded, understanding that some memories were too painful to reminisce upon at the moment.

"Thank you Akai-san. You can now go. I will call you in a few days time, after the council and I have decided what missions and what rank to place you in. We might also have to test your abilities, so be prepared."

Akai nodded. "Thank you." Before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Tsunade sighed and sat back down behind her desk. So this was the valuable asset Sandaime had planned for their village. The pain in the girl was evident, and Tsunade hoped that being home, would heal the girl slightly.

Tsunade reached into the secret compartment underneath her desk for a Sake bottle and took a long drink.

There was still the matter of the council… What would they do when they find out? Not to mention, is she really still trustworthy? Or should she just go along blindly as her previous mentor had asked.

It was going to be a long week.

_Longest chapter I've written so far. Is it still too short? Please Review! I don't know if the flow of the story is right. Or if it is too rushed. Do review please!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: My apologies for updating so so late. I've just been crazy busy with school trips and exams and everything. Duties as a prefect, yadiyadiya. Just too many things to do. Anyway, here is the newest installment, do enjoy. Review please! I love receiving feedback just so I could improve. So please, review!_

_Nariko of Konoha: Thank you for your review. First review! Lol. Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I always get that problem even with my English Coursework and stuff. I tend to blab on way too much. Hope you like this chapter!_

Akai walked out of the Hokage tower, grinning to herself. It felt good. It felt so good to be home. With the leaf hitai-ate tied onto her arm and her apartment keys in her hands, she walked through the street as though she did not have a care in the world. Passerby's couldn't help but turned and stare at the redhead beauty. It felt odd, being back into civilization, but at the same time, it felt amazing. She smiled and nodded at the people staring, more than twice a man would faint as blood gushed out of their noses. She knew she was not plain looking. But it didn't occur to her that she would cause that sort of effect onto people, she averted her eyes, realizing the inviting aura she was emitting could cause more harm than good, so she decided to just enjoy the sun that was beating down onto her face, until her peace was disturbed by another ear piercing scream.

"NARUTO!"

The said blond ball of energy had tripped and slammed into his pink haired teammate, causing her to let go of the cat that the Team 7 had spent majority of the morning searching for. Akai looked over at the commotion only to see a black fur ball run and jump onto her, searching for solace in her arms. Akai laughed at the adorable cat as it purred and rubbed his head onto her neck lovingly. She scratched its ear and kissed its nose lightly, before walking over to the queer team of four. The image was too comical indeed, a blond boy having his ear pulled so very hard by his pink-haired teammate.

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she screamed at him. "NOW WE HAVE TO LOOK FOR HIM ALL OVER AG-" and she stopped short, blushing wildly to see the redhead standing in front of them, holding the object of their mission.

"I can safely assume you're searching for this?"

Naruto stared at her, gasping. "Oneechan! Be careful! He could skin-"

"My hide if he wanted to?" she said, cutting him off, laughing. "I know he can, but I think this little darling only harms when he has to." Naruto took a double take, really looking at the lady, allowing his jaw to drop to the ground for the second time of the day. This time, it wasn't due to the fact that the cat was tamed, but the fact that he had never seen such a beautiful woman before in his life. Sakura and even Sasuke were struck silent, her laughter still ringing in their ears. To the three of them, she was without a doubt nothing short of an angel sent from the heavens.

"Yes yes Naruto, now thank the lady for her-"Kakashi said, lazily removing his usual perverted book from his eyes, only to be stopped short by the woman standing not 5 feet away from them. Recognition, surprise and shock filled his face. "Akai… hime?" Kakashi muttered softly.

Akai looked up, amused for she had not been called that for 8 years, only to realize that the same husky voice belonged to… Her eyes widened, "Kakashi…"

Both of the adults stood and stared at each other, tension between both of them so thick that you could slice it with a knife. Electricity seemed to fly between the both of them and the place grew 20 degrees hotter.

"EH?!? Kakashi-sensei! You know this beautiful lady?" Naruto shouted, breaking the tensed silence, which was quickly followed by a,

"YOU IDIOT!" shouted Sakura, slamming her fist onto Naruto's head burying him into the ground.

"But sakuraaaaaaa-chaaan."

"Tch. Baka." Sasuke shook his head; even he realizing that there was more than meets the eye with this woman and Kakashi.

The two adults just continued staring at each other, ignoring the teenagers. "Since when?" Kakashi asked, relaxing slightly.

The three teammates looked up at shifted their gaze from Kakashi to the mysterious woman.

"Barely an hour" She said staring up at him. How he has changed during the eight years. Kakashi had always been good looking, but he had grown from a cute 15 year old, to a full-grown, well-toned, absolutely delicious man of 23. Akai had to check herself to ensure that she wasn't drooling. "I see you still have that stupid mask."

"Not many things have changed." He said, chuckling. "It's good to have you home, Akai-hime."

Akai smiled, "Not as good as it feels to be home."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto whined. "How do you know this woman? And why do you keep calling her princess?" he asked, curious. Sakura's eyebrow twitched, resisting the urge to hit Naruto again.

"This, Naruto, is Konoha's princess. Akai Naze-hime." He said, winking at her. He got onto his knees, took her hand and kissed her lightly on her knuckles. Akai blushed furiously. "Gorgeous and deadly packed into one amazing package."

Akai felt blood rushing to her head, trying very hard not to swoon. So this was what Kakashi had grown into- an attractive, flirtatious man. Even through his mask she could feel his lips grazing her knuckles, she shuddered at the feeling. She shook her head and took her hand away from his grip. "Don't listen to him guys. There's nothing even remotely royal about my blood. But it is nice to meet you; I am Akai Naze, just a regular kunoichi that has returned from a very long journey."

She bowed low at the blond. "It is finally nice to meet you Uzumaki Naruto." Then she did same to the Uchiha and Sakura. "You too Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."

"May I ask… How is it that you know us and our names?" Sakura asked nervously, something in this woman intimidated her, she was beautiful, yet emitted an aura of power and importance. Sakura admired her; she was the type of kunoichi that Sakura hoped to be one day.

"I know many things Sakura-san." Akai said, winking at her. "But this I found out from the Hokage-sama. It is good that I learn all that I have missed about the village."

Kakashi got off his knee and smiled at her. "Indeed it is good to have you home princess." Akai blushed and turned to him.

"You've grown indeed Kakashi-kun." Akai said teasingly before reaching over and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

Kakashi smiled, his arms snaking around her waist and holding her tight. Nose filled with the scent that he so dearly loved, as he buried his face into her long red hair. "I can say the same for you Akai-hime."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all stared on with amazement. Their sensei, Kakashi-sensei, a man who they barely knew anything about, the man who they never knew had someone close to him, holding this newcomer as though…

"EHH!?!?! KAKASHI-SENSEI! Is Akai-neechan your girlfriend!?!?" shouted the blond hyperactive ninja.

Villagers from miles away looked up as a loud scream of "BAKA!" was heard, followed by a very, very loud boom of something hitting the ground, hard.

XxX break XxX

"Thank you for joining us Akai-san." Said the blond haired Hokage as Akai stepped into the clearing of Training Grounds 7. Akai nodded at her.

"Of course Hokage-sama." She said, smirking. "I can assume that this is the 'test' you had been talking to me about?" Akai had only been back to Konoha for two days. She spent majority of her time moving into her new apartment, buying the few necessities that she needed to maintain a basic standard of living. She had yet to find the time to go out and seek out her other friends, and there was definitely a certain silver-haired jounin that she would love to visit. But still, it had been a while since she last trained or stretched her muscles. She was looking forward to it.

"We are going to test you on three aspects." Three shinobis dropped down in front of her. The first was Kakashi, with his usual U like smile. "Kakashi is to test you on your ninjutsu"

"Yo." Replied Kakashi which nearly sent Akai into a fit of giggles.

She nodded at him, smiling. "Hey."

The second was a strange man in a green jumpsuit and a bowl-like haircut. He was staring at her with stars in his eyes which sent shivers up her spine. He definitely freaked her out. "This, is Gai"

"It is so nice to meet you Akai-sama! Never has there ever been a maiden, a flower so fair to touch the eyes of this Konoha Green Beast! Never has there been such a soulful youth of our time-"

"Sorry. Were you saying something to me?"

Shock filtered through Gai's eyes as he lowered his head in dismay and tears of sadness rolled down from his eyes. "I should have known… You and my eternal rival! The same!"

Mirth and laughter filled both Akai's and Kakashi's eyes as they both tried to control from bursting out laughing. Tsunade just shook her head. "As I was saying… Gai is here to test your taijutsu." Said the Hokage.

Gai burst into a bright white smile and a thumbs up. Akai had to squint as his teeth nearly blinded her; he looked like he belonged to a Colgate advertisement. "Gai, Konoha's Green Beast, at your service!"

"And for your genjutsu, this is Kurenai." A female with black hair and startling red eyes stepped forward and bowed to her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Akai-san."

"Please, just call me Akai." And she returned the bow.

Kurenai straightened and nodded. Akai smiled kindly to her, she liked this woman, she had a different sort of strength within her that Akai liked. She felt that they could probably make fast friends.

"Akai it is then."

Tsunade beckoned both Kakashi and Kurenai with her. "First it would be Gai's turn, taijutsu."

Tsunade, Kakashi and Kurenai jumped a great distance away and three of them landed on different trees, waiting to watch the match that would soon begin. Akai nodded at Gai and took an unknown stance with her legs apart and her bent low, her right hand behind her back and her left arm extended in front of her.

"I suggest you come at me with all your strength Gai-san, meaning off with those weights."

Gai looked at her in slight shock, how did she know? But he nodded at her, knowing that he had to take this fight seriously. He reached down to his ankles and took off his ankle weights and threw them to the side, creating a deep crater on both sides of them, he then took off his wrist and chest weights which created an even larger crater. He straightened up and smiled brightly at Akai.

"As you wish Akai-same. I will take you seriously, and I won't be holding back. So be ready." He said before disappearing

Kakashi watched from the trees above and saw that Gai moved at such an extreme speed he totally disappeared from his vision. He removed his hitai-ate to watch with his sharingan, and even then, it was nearly impossible to keep up with his speed. Gai indeed had improved from the previous time they sparred. Kakashi turned to look at the red head beauty that stood at the opposite side of the field, she looked confident and strong but he knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against this speed; he only hoped that she wouldn't get hurt too badly.

Gai came at her with such an incredible speed she nearly applauded. Her eyes could barely keep up with him. He was amazing. There was only 2 other people in the world she knew that could move as fast as that, he was so incredibly close to breaking the space/time continuum that it both excited and scared her. Maybe, just maybe she could teach him a thing or two to make him excel at his field, providing that he was a worthy subject. She bent lower and shifted her stance a little resting her weight on the balls of her feet. Just as Gai appeared right before her his hand clenched into a fist ready to punch her, she smiled. Gai's eyes widened as he extended his arm and hit… nothing.

Kakashi gasped in slight surprise, he was so prepared to hear the loud impact that Gai's punch would definitely cause. He wasn't the only one surprised as Tsunade and Kurenai both froze in shock. Where was she?

Before Gai could even fully extend his arm into a punch Akai disappeared and reappeared behind him, knowing that his momentum was off and that he could not turn around to block her hits she punched him. The punch sent him flying and smacking into several trees, causing them to topple over. He skidded to a stop about half a kilometer from where she was, and this was only thanks to the amount of trees in the way.

As the dust and sand cleared Akai cursed to herself, realizing that she possibly should have held back even more. She forgot her strengths for a bit and rushed towards Gai's side together with the other three shinobis that was watching. She knelt before him. "Gai-san! Gomen-nasai! Are you okay?"

Gai lifted his head and smiled at her, struggling to lift his hand to a thumbs up. "As I should have expected from such a great flower of Konoha. I will be fine…" as he dropped off to a mumble and he fell into a dead faint.

Akai nodded and smiled, he would be okay, she held her hand to his chest were a purple glow emitted from her palm and healed his wounds. Tsunade came over and smacked her on her head.

"Owwww. Tsunade-sama." She whined.

"That's what you get for injuring one of my shinobis Akai. You should be a little more careful with where you place your strengths."

"He'll be okay Tsunade-sama." Pouted Akai.

"You better hope so."

"I did say I was sorry."

"You should be more than sorry!"

Kurenai watched the scolding that Tsunade was giving Akai. She was still in shock with the speed at where Akai could move. She thought that Gai was fast because he had totally disappeared from view when he had moved and appeared in front of Akai a second later. But Akai had managed to dodge his punch, appear behind him and punch him all the way to kingdom com all within the time span of Gai's attack! Who exactly was this girl and exactly what could she do?

Kurenai spun around as she felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Kakashi. "I know Kurenai-san, she really did move fast… Too fast."

Kurenai nodded and turned back to the Hokage and the red-head beauty. She shuddered to think if that was the slightest bit of what she could do… how much more could she do with ninjutsu and genjutsu? And from the sound of it, it seemed as though she was holding back against Gai. Just how powerful was this unknown woman?

"I said I was sorry Tsunade-sama! I promise I'll judge my strength even more the next time." Akai said, head bowed. She really did feel bad for the whole thing. She knew that she could've killed him with a single punch if she wanted to.

Tsunade sighed, feeling like the weary old grandmother. "Okay okay fine, you're forgiven. Just be careful next time. You're against Kakashi after all."

Kakashi looked up at her, his eye with his usual U. "Looking forward to it hime."

Akai rolled her eyes at the nickname. "No holding back eh Kakashi?"

"When would I ever my dear princess?"

"Off with that damn eye patch then."

"Of course madam." Said Kakashi as he removed his hitai-ate and put it into his pouch.

"Now keep it PG-13 you lot." Ordered the Hokage as Kurenai bent down to pick up Gai. "I'd prefer it if you didn't scar any of us."

Akai blushed as Kakashi grinned. "What would give you that kind of idea Tsunade-sama."

"Don't sama me. Just keep it down." Grumbled Tsunade as Kurenai, Gai and herself disappeared to one of the trees, Kurenai carrying Gai of course.

"Well, you heard the lady, keep it down shall we?" Kakashi said, laughter clear in his voice.

Akai just shook her head. Typical Kakashi. "Just remember, don't hold back." As she got into her previous fighting stance.

"I won't. I promise."

Silently, Kakashi mused to himself, if he didn't take this match seriously, he knew that for sure he would lose a lot more than just his pride. Akai had changed; she had grown into an incredibly powerful kunoichi herself. He no longer could just play games with her. He had to get down to business.

"Ready when you are Kakashi-kun."

His sharingan eye began spinning and his mouth set into a grim line. "Here I come."

_Please review! Hope you liked it. Battle with Kakashi and Kurenai next!_


	4. Chapter 3

**OMFG. I'm so absolutely sorry guys. So so utterly sorry for having to take this super long break from the last time I wrote. Honestly. Summer just came and went and I was spending most of my time doing the usual, partying, lazing off.**

**Well… Summer's ending. And I decided to get my ass back to work. I tend to forget how it good it feels to write. =]**

**Thank you for those who have given me reviews. For others, please do review!**

**Oh and btw, I have changed Chapter 2 slightly. Akai can no longer see through things and far distances like a Bykugan. I think I should stop God-modding her so much and I will keep that in mind for this chapter.**

**Mind you, there would be a lot of breaks of scenes okay? =]**

**Enjoy and PLEASE R&R**

**It's good to be back!**

"Hey Sakura-chan?" A very bored Naruto asked as he lazed on a tree branch. His two team mates, Sasuke and Sakura lounged below him, Sasuke leaning on the tree and Sakura sitting on top of a fallen log. Both looking as bored as Naruto sounded. "Where do you think Kakashi-sensei is right now? He's already about two hours late."

"Don't know Naruto, he's always like that, he should be here soon anyhow." His pink-haired teammate replied, she too slowly losing patience over their somewhat incompetent teacher.

"Hmph. Dobe"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME TEME?"

Sakura sighed as the usual episode of her two teammates one sided argument started all over again for the fifth time that morning. She could only hope that their teacher would show up sometime soon.

She was about to be seriously disappointed.

XxX break XxX

"Katon: Ryuka Endan!"(1) Kakashi muttered as his hands moved in the speed of light. He placed his fingers in front of his mouth and blew. A giant red dragon made out of fire sprang out from his fingers and roared as it flew towards the red head female standing not too far away from him.

Akai smirked. Getting the first attack in had its advantages and disadvantages, Akai knew that Kakashi had his sharingan on, thus making it difficult for the girl to attack first as he would just copy her technique straight off. His sharingan was sure annoying, but not impossible to beat. They had stood there, waiting on each other, testing each other's patience, until it was clear that Akai would not attack first Kakashi had no choice but to start.

The man had always been slightly impatient.

Akai's fingers moved as fast as Kakashi's did and almost just exactly in time. She knew that his copying technique had a weakness and she made sure to exploit it.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!"(2)

A giant dragon made out of water met Kakashi's attack head on. Causing a massive explosion like sound that blasted across the arena as hot mist swept across everyone's feet. Akai grinned as she jumped into the air.

"Doton: Yomi Numa."(3) She muttered as her fingers moved to do that said technique, the entire arena where she had earlier stood turned into a big murky swamp, delaying Kakashi's movements and reflexes. She quickly took out four kunais from her pouch and as she landed on the nearby tree branch she threw all four at him, aiming at where he stood, in front of him and on both sides of him.

Kakashi swore underneath his breath. The mud at his feet caused his movements to be delayed. He hadn't expected Akai to have known such a high level technique. Just where on earth did that small innocent girl he used to know disappeared to? Unable to spend much time thinking about it, he jumped backwards to dodge the kunai that came flying at him, the other three ensuring he could not escape any other way. Kakashi frowned at this, why not throw five when in his current predicament, would probably at least injure him slightly?

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu."(4)

Kakashi's eyes widened as he emitted a small yelp as he felt his feet being pulled into the ground. When on earth did she get the time to do that? Kakashi looked up from his position in the ground, only his head visible as Akai crouched down in front of him, poking his nose. He remembered not too long ago when he had done the exact same thing to Sasuke, he winced, so this is how low he has gotten.

"Kakashi…" she said warningly. "Why on earth are you going easy on me?" Then she smirked. "Unless, of course, the great copy-nin could fall for a D-rank ninjutsu so easily?"

Kakashi stared up at the girl helplessly. It was true that he was underestimating her, not wanting to take her seriously. He watched as she did a hand seal and the murky swamp disappeared and grunted as she pulled him out of the ground. Kakashi stood up to dust himself off.

"Again then hime?" he asked as he turned back to her lazily. "This time I promise I won't go easy on you."

Akai turned as she rolled her eyes and walked away from him, towards the other side of the arena and got into her fighting stance once again.

"I've heard that before. Just know this Kakashi, it won't just be mud you'd be in if you underestimate me again."

Kakashi nodded, understanding. So his little hime really did grow up huh? He shook his head, since when did she started becoming _his_? He pushed that thought aside as his fingers began the sequence of a new handseal.

"Suiton: Daibafuku no Jutsu!"(5)

XxX break XxX

"Hey hey Sakura-chan?" A-a-lot-more-bored-than-before certain blond haired genin asked. "It's already been 3 hours, where on earth is that baka sensei of ours?"

A vein twitched above Sakura's right forehead. Naruto had been asking her the very same question every five minutes for the past hour. She was slowly beginning to lose patience with both her teammate and her sensei. "I don't know you idiot. Incase you didn't realize, I've been here with you the whole entire time. How am I suppose to know something if you don't?!?" she yelled at him, finally letting the world knew that this particular kunoichi is pissed off.

Naruto whimpered as he kept quiet, allowing a peaceful silence to cover them. Sakura sighed, peace and quiet at last… It was barely five seconds later when-

"Neh neh Sasuke. Do you want so spar?"

The vein twitched.

"Why would I want to spar with a dobe like you?" answered the brooding teen.

"EEHHH. SASUKE-TEME. YOU CAN'T CALL ME A DOBE."

The vein twitched twice.

"I can call you whatever I want, plus it's true."

"TAKE THAT BACK YOU TEME! WHEN I BECOME A HOKAGE I'LL THROW YOUR ASS IN PRISON SO YOU BETTER BE NICE!"

The vein twitched three times.

"Make threats only when you can follow them through idiot."

"THAT'S IT SASUKE. BRING IT ON. I'LL TAKE YOU ON RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!!"

The vein began to twitch like it was having a seizure.

"You won't even beat me if my hands were tied loser."

"OH YEAH? COME HERE TAKE ME ON RIGHT-"

The vein stopped twitching.

Poor Naruto didn't even see it coming, within five seconds his face was about two feet deeper into the ground, courtesy of a particular pink-hair kunoichi.

"GODDAMMIT NARUTO! DO YOU NOT EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF-"

A large explosion, followed by a blast so huge that it pushed Sakura a few inches from where she was standing interrupted her rant halfway. For the first time in the whole morning Sasuke looked up, eyes blazing as he stared at the direction the blast had come from. It appeared to have came from the training grounds not too far from their meeting point. Sasuke quickly sped off towards that direction.

"Sasuke-kun. Wait!" Sakura cried out, completely forgetting about her victim that she was halfway through torturing as she ran after him. Leaving a very much clueless Naruto behind.

A few seconds later, the boy stopped cowering as he realized that her torturer/crush had stopped hitting him. He lifted his head from where his arms were trying to defend it to the best of his abilities. "Sakura-chan?" he called out as he stood up. "Sasuke-teme?"

Naruto looked around, confused. He scratched the back of his head stupidly.

"What just happened?"

XxX break XxX

Akai panted as she landed on the ground. Kakashi lay not to far away from her, on the floor from the blast of her attack. He groaned as he slowly got to his feet, his head obviously a little woozy and his balance a little off.

"What was that?" Kakashi asked, wincing as his chest screamed in pain. A few of his ribs were broken for sure.

Akai grinned at him as she tried to catch her breathe. "I call it 'Bahuka Chikara no Jutsu.'(literal translation: explosive force) Made it up myself. Pretty awesome eh?"

The training grounds they were in was a complete mess. The clearing had been large before, but with the remodeling Akai had just done? It was easily 5 times larger. Through out the battle Kakashi's shirt had been shredded into little nothings and so did half the pant leg of his pants. Leaving him bare-chested and even more drool worthy. When he had removed his shirt due to the fact it was turning into more of a hindrance than help, Akai had to force herself not to stare. With his eight pack and amazing biceps? Kakashi definitely had grown up.

But Kakashi wasn't the only one who had performed a little strip-tease. Somehow through out their battle he had managed to shred her coat and her long pants into pieces. Akai now stood in the field, breathing hard, clad in nothing but a red tube top and tight black shorts that she wore underneath her pants. To Kakashi, the sweat dripping down her neck that laid a path down her well-developed chest was distracting. Not to mention the trail of sweat from sliding down her toned, flat stomach and into the waistband of her excruciatingly tight shorts. That was hell to him. He could barely conceal his stares. He was secretly glad this his pants were loose, else if Akai were to notice his current… 'predicament'. He was sure even the Devil would be kinder to him.

"Mah…" Kakashi said as he dusted himself. He looked up hopefully over at Akai. "It's not over yet now is it?"

She grinned. "Nope."

"Fine." He grunted as he stood up straight to face the girl.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu."(6) The girl muttered as the entire arena turned pitch black. It wasn't impossibly for the sharingan to see through it. But difficult.

Kakashi took a deep breathe as he prepared himself for the battle that was sure to follow.

XxX break XxX

Tsunade, Kurenai and a now awaken Gai watched in awe from a safe distance away. They too had been pushed away from the blast from Akai's previous attack. They were taken by surprise by the sheer amount of power behind it and had to pump chakra into their legs to stop them from being blown away. But mostly, they were just too shocked at the fight that was happening right before their eyes.

Kakashi and Akai was quick to rid the rule of the battle being only ninjutsu. Bringing taijutsu and genjutsu into the fight, it proved to be indeed one of the most interesting spars that the Hokage ever had the pleasure of watching. Kakashi was strong and had the size advantage. Not to mention his well known dictionary of Jutsus and his sharingan would've given him the upper hand if Akai had been anybody else. But Akai was agile and quick on her feet. She was able to access the situation and used it to her advantage very quickly. She also had a wide range of knowledge on Justsus that Tsunade felt was pretty damn impressive.

Another loud blast caught her attention as she turned her attention back to the battle. No matter what, this girl was definitely ANBU material. Probably even higher. In the corner of her eyes she could see more and more people gathering around the training grounds to watch the battle. It seemed like these two were surely attracting more attention then they had expected. Tsunade didn't really mind all that much, it was good to educate the other shinobis on fighting technique's and such. Maybe they'd learn a thing or two from these two elite ninjas.

XxX break XxX

"Sasuke-kun." A panting Sakura said as she stopped next to him. She was quick to catch her breath and looked around. A huge crowd was gathered and seemed to be watching something. "What's going on?"

Sasuke grunted as he looked around, trying to find a good place to watch what was going on. He soon found a suitable tree and climbed up onto the branches, Sakura close on his heels.

To be truthful, Sasuke didn't actually know what was going on. But the blast had him curious and the large crowd had only piqued his curiosity. He peered through the leaves at the clearing below, eyes widening in surprise when he saw his very own sensei engaged in what seems like a very intense fight with…

Sakur gasped. "Isn't that Akai-chan? The lady we saw a few days ago? Kakashi-sensei's friend?"

Sasuke chose not to reply, but to watched the battle even more closely. It was definitely an interesting battle, centering mostly around ninjutsus. Sasuke activated his sharingan as the commas in his eyes spun, maybe he could pick up something from this battle…? The techniques they were using, it was way above advance. He grinned, thankful he got this advantage as he concentrated on the battle going down below.

Sakura shuddered as a very much sadistic grin appeared on her raven-haired crush's face. Whatever was going through that boy's mind. Definitely wasn't good. Sakura pushed that thought aside. Whatever Sasuke-kun wanted to do, he would be able to do it. She wasn't going to stop him now.

Inside, she sighed. Her darling Sasuke-kun…

XxX break XxX

Akai's eyes snapped back at where she knew Kakashi's team were hiding. "Kai!" she called out, releasing her Genjutsu technique. Several trees surrounding the area disappeared. Causing the clearing to look emptier than it did before, she was using that technique in hopes to confuse him, though they proved futile as his sharingan saw through practically everything. Sometimes, sharingan users can be so annoying.

Speaking of which, she had placed her hand out to halt the battle. "It appears, Kakashi. A certain student of yours is here. Fighting to protect my Jutsus against one sharingan user is one thing. But when there's two, it's much harder."

Kakashi nodded, understanding as he pushed his forehead protector to cover his own sharingan once again. "Mah, understood hime."

"Tie?"

"Tie."

Akai grinned as she walked towards the center of the clearing. A clapping sound caught her attention as she looked towards the direction it came from. Soon after, that single clap was joined by a thunderous applause and cheering. Akai blushed from the attention. It seemed like she was so hooked up in the battle that she hadn't realized that there were people watching.

Tsunade, Kurenai and Gai appeared by her side. "Well… Akai-san, it seemed like the people here all like the way you fight. It's been a while since we've seen something as refreshing as that." The blonda Hokage said.

Akai blushed an even deeper red. She kept silent for a while, waiting for the applause to end. The crowd, knowing that the battle was over and that they had shown their appreciation, slowly dissipated. Conversations springing up here and there about the fight that they had all just witnessed. Soon, the only people left were Kakashi, Akai, Tsunade, Gai and Kurenai.

"Sasuke, Sakura. You guys can come down now." Kakashi called out from where he stood, leaning against Kurenai for support.

Sasuke and Sakura climbed down from the tree.

"Well it does seem like you've interrupted a battle Uchiha, due to your sharingan."

The said Uchiha just hmped and crossed his arms, refusing to apologize or even acknowledge that fact.

Akai laughed good heartedly. "Well Kakashi-sensei. It seems like he came at the right time too. Any longer and you would've passed out."

The silver haired jounin shrugged. "You too."

"Yeah. But my pride isn't as large as yours. And neither is my ego."

Kakashi wisely chose to stay silent at that remark.

Akai shook her head, smiling tiredly, she turned to the Hokage. "Well Tsunade-sama. Saw enough? Or do you want me to fight Kurenai too?"

The Hokage laughed and shook her head. "I think that demonstration with Kakashi was enough Akai-san." She took out a scroll from her pocket and passed it to the tired out fighter. "Congratulations on becoming a Jounin." She said grinning.

Akai's eyes widened as she accepted the scroll. "You knew I was going to pass all along!" she practically screeched.

The Hokage just grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief. There was something about this blonde lady that sometimes reminded her of Naruto. "I had to make sure didn't I?"

"Well… Fine." Akai grumbled to herself. She then turned to Kakashi and grinned. "Oh and Kakashi. I give you five seconds."

The said ninja looked up and frowned. "Five seconds for what?"

"That."

Kakashi jerked and froze. He then toppled over and Kurenai nearly lost her grip on him. Akai bent forward to hold his upper body weight, placing his other arm around her shoulders.

Tsunade looked at him, slightly worried. She was quick to do a scan on his body. Shaking her head as she examined him.

"Seems like simply just Chakra Depletion."

Akai nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "How?"

She looked around sheepishly, trying to avoid the older woman's stare. "Well… I kinda used a Chakura Kyuin Jutsu (7) on him a while back…"

Tsunade's eye widened. That would definitely explain the Chakra exhaustion. But when did the girl find the time to do that? Even Tsunade herself wasn't able to catch her. She looked at the girl. She definitely was a force to be considered.

"Come on Kurenai. I think we should bring here to the hospital. I think Gai, you should get checked up too." said Akai.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll come with you." The sannin added. "Sasuke, Sakura, both of you and Naruto have the rest of the week off. Seeing as your teacher will only be able to fully recover if he doesn't have to train you lot."

Sasuke just grunted and walked off after a short bow. Sakura stared after her crush before bowing deeply before the Hokage. "Haih Hokage-sama." She said, happy to have heard this news, before running after Sasuke. Maybe she could use that spa discount after all. Sasuke would definitely appreciate her after that.

Tsunade shook her head as herself and the whole lot slowly trudged towards the hospital. Tsunade leading the way.

XxX break XxX

Kakashi opened his eyes slowly, trying to ignore the bright lights that caused his vision to have several dots within them. Blinking hard he tried to remove the annoying black dots but it proved ineffective as they stayed. Kakashi sighed, giving up, before he took his time to look around.

It was obvious where he was. He had spent enough time in hospitals to know a hospital room from the moment he opened his eyes. The problem was, what on earth was he doing here?

Memories from the previous fight flooded back. He winced as he remembered blacking out from Chakra exhaustion. He looked over himself, as far as the damage went it seemed like a few broken ribs, a fractured arm, and a couple of bruises and cuts. It was honestly no biggie, seeing as he had suffered so much more before. His head, however did swim and he felt like he was completely exhausted. Like the bed could just swallow him up and he wouldn't have to use his limbs anymore.

A constant weight on his arm caught his attention as he turned to it. A mass of red hair practically covered his entire arm as the rhythmic rise and fall of breathe caused the body the head was connected to move. How he had not noticed Akai there from the very moment he woke up he had no idea. But he was glad that she was alright.

He looked her over. Analyzing that she wasn't that badly injured, at least not as badly as he was. A few bandages covered her arms from where he could see, but it didn't look like anything was broken. It also seemed like the girl had changed clothes from their previous fight. She now wore a regular loose t-shirt and khaki pants. It wasn't that flattering to her figure, but Kakashi barely noticed. He blushed slightly as he remembered what she was wearing, or rather, what she wasn't. His blush only darkened as he remembered his body's reactions to what he had saw.

Kakashi shook her head, not the right time for perverted thoughts, he berated himself. Instead, he allowed himself to admire the beauty that was lying so innocently by his side.

The sun streaked through the windows and reflected from the white washed walls. Her red hair shone with brilliance and as he played with the few locks that covered his hand, he had honestly never felt something so soft before. Her luscious lips were red and pouted, as though she was having an innocent dream and not getting exactly what she wanted. Like a child when rejected ice-cream. Her long, beautiful eye lashes fluttered as she muttered in her dream.

Kakashi had never felt such a great urge to kiss someone before in his life. It was so easy, to just bend over and place a kiss on those sweet lips of hers…

He sighed, pushing that thought out of his mind. Screw that, Akai would kill him.

But still… He looked longingly at the gorgeous beauty by his side. He raised his left hand, the one that she wasn't leaning on and gently caressed her face. The girl leaned into his hand slightly. "Kakashi…" she moaned sleepily. This sent a shiver down the said ninja's spine and caused the silver haired ninja to stop in his actions.

'_Dammit Kakashi. What are you doing?'_ the copy cat ninja thought to himself as he forced himself to removed his hand. It was quickly caught by Akai's hand, as though they were her reflexes. He watched sheepishly as the girl opened her eyes, waiting as she slowly registered what was going on.

"Kakashi…?" Akai asked sleepily. She quickly noticed the fact that she was holding his hand and quickly let go, blushing. "You're awake."

"Good morning beautiful." He whispered huskily, he watched as Akai turned into an even deeper shade of red. She shook her head, as though to dismiss what he had just said. But Kakashi meant it. He really thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

Akai looked up at the man who's bed side she's been sleeping at for the past two days and shifted uncomfortably at the way that he was looking at her. It wasn't as though she didn't like it. No. But it just felt so strangely intimate. Like… Akai quickly pushed that thought away. No. Definitely not. Quickly, she put on a smile.

"It's been two days Kakashi. You've got us all worried."

The man's chest rumbled deliciously as he let out a small laugh. "And who's fault is that?" he asked teasingly.

"My apologies Kaka-kun. I really thought you were stronger than that." The grin on Akai's face showed that she was clearly joking. Then she sobered up. "Really though, I'm sorry."

Kakashi smiled as he placed her hand underneath her chin and pushed her head up to look into his eyes. "It doesn't matter. I had fun. No apologies needed."

Akai bit her lower lip, unaware just exactly how sexy she looked doing that and what affect it had on the masked man. She then broke out into a smile. "Okay."

Just then, the hospital room door opened and in stepped the blonde Hokage. Akai quickly pulled away and Kakashi silently cursed the woman's timing. It was just getting good too.

"Well. It looks like you'll be up and running in no time. I do want you under bed rest for the next two days. Just in case." said the renown medic nin after checking through his charts.

Kakashi just nodded. When the Hokage gave you medical advice, especially in the tone of voice she was using, it was better if you obey without complain.

"Two days okay Hatake? If I see you out and about before that you'll have no missions for you and your team for at least a month." Kakashi was about to protest when the Hokage cut him off. "Don't worry about food and what not. I'm assigning Akai to take care of you. I would also appreciate it if I don't get noise complains from the neighbours okay? If you guys intend on doing the deed, do it quietly. That is all." Tsunade walked out of the room, leaving two gaping shinobis inside. Akai blushing a furious red.

"Why that Hokage of ours. Really. Where on earth does she keep getting all these sexual-" Akai stopped short, noticing the stare that Kakashi was giving her. She ligtly slapped him on the back of his head.

"Pervert."

Kakashi just grinned.

**Whew! Longest chapter so far. Done in one night too. I really do miss writing I tell you. =]**

**Okay so explanations for each of the Jutsus used:**

**1. "Katon: Ryuka Endan!" – mainly shoots an enormous ball of flame shaped like a dragon from the user's mouth. This technique is used by the Sandaime Hokage once upon a time I believe.**

**2. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" – same as the above, but only a dragon made of water. This technique unless used by a powerful shinobi (which is what Akai is anyway) is needed to be done near a body of water. In this case, Akai is able to take water from the trees, ground, nature nearby.**

**3. "Doton: Yomi Numa." – turns a large amount of land into a swampland. Limiting movement and such.**

**4. "Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu." – A typical D ranked technique where the user pulls the victim into the ground. Kakashi uses this during the bell test with team 7 on Sasuke if you remember it. =]**

**For those who did not know, or want to know, the reason Kakashi didn't pull himself out (even though he was capable of doing so) was because he knew Akai would pull him out. =]**

**5. "Suiton: Daibafuku no Jutsu!" – A technique used to create a massive blast of water. This technique is used in the fight between Momochi Zabuza and Kakashi himself. Kakashi, using Sharingan to copy it off him too. (It's the one where he copies it before Zabuza finishes and Zabuza was all like 'OMG can you see the future?' on Kakashi)**

**6. "Kokuangyo no Jutsu." – A Genjutsu this one is. Creates an area of pitch black around the victim, allowing the user to attack without being seen. (A-Rank mind you) Very difficult to perform, crazy hard to maintain. Not to mention Kakashi having Sharingan proved hard for Akai. But it blurred his vision slightly, seeing as he has only one Sharingan eye. =] Still pretty good for Akai though. Used this against him.**

**7. Chakura Kyuin Jutsu – Is a typical Chakra Depletion technique. Drains chakra out of it's victim. =]**

**Okay, I know the scene suck, the fact that I kept cutting out all the good parts. But I don't want to reveal too much of Akai to the audience yet you know? Build the suspense.**

**I promise I will TRY to godmode her less. =] **

**Ooh ooh can't wait for the next chapter. KakashiAkai goodness up ahead. =P I'll promise to make it super cheesy for you lot.**

**Once again, it's good to be back. And apologies for being gone so long.**

**Enjoy!**

**READ AND REVIEW  
REVIEW  
REVIEW  
PLEASE. =]**


	5. DISCONTINUED

Authors Note:

It is with great sadness to inform you guys that this story is discontinued. Actually, scratch that, I'm not sad at all.

After rereading my story I realize how pathetic it actually was. My story line was crap, the romance was crap, I over god-modded my OC and I over did it.

SO. I'm restarting.

By the time you read this, the new chapter for the new story would already be up. Hopefully, I would achieve more success with that one.

It's called.

**The Stuff of Legends.  
****Summary:** What if Iruka didn't come to Naruto's aid when Mizuki struck? What if he was unconscious at the time and someone else came instead? Watch, as Naruto defies all odds thrown against him and becomes the stuff of legends, with some extra guidance of course.

**Time:** Set after the Gennin Exams

**Major Pairings:** KakashiOCItachi SasukeSakura

Link is in my profile (obviously) and it is a rewrite. But I'm altering the story instead. But those of you that like my character she will still be in there, with the basic underline of what I have input before would be the same. It's just taking a separate point of view and hopefully, you would enjoy it. Do go and read. =] It would be great if you reviewed too.

Thank you for being so faithful and reading all these while. =] I hope I didn't bore you and everything. Do give the other story a try. It could surprise you. =]

Xxx

-Kim.


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